Jeremiah 1:13
Translations
King James Version (KJV)
And the word of the LORD came to me the second time, saying, What see you? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north.
American King James Version (AKJV)
And the word of the LORD came to me the second time, saying, What see you? And I said, I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is toward the north.
American Standard Version (ASV)
And the word of Jehovah came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a boiling caldron; and the face thereof is from the north.
Basic English Translation (BBE)
And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, What do you see? And I said, I see a boiling pot, and its face is from the north.
Webster's Revision
And the word of the LORD came to me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething pot; and its face is towards the north.
World English Bible
The word of Yahweh came to me the second time, saying, "What do you see?" I said, "I see a boiling caldron; and it is tipping away from the north."
English Revised Version (ERV)
And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething caldron; and the face thereof is from the north.
Clarke's Jeremiah 1:13 Bible Commentary
A seething pot - toward the north - We find, from Ezekiel 24:3, etc., that a boiling pot was an emblem of war, and the desolations it produces. Some have thought that by the seething pot Judea is intended, agitated by the invasion of the Chaldeans, whose land lay north of Judea. But Dr. Blayney contends that מפני צפונה mippeney tsaphonah should be translated, From the face of the north, as it is in the margin; for, from the next verse, it appears that the evil was to come from the north; and therefore the steam, which was designed as an emblem of that evil, must have arisen from that quarter also. The pot denotes the empire of the Babylonians and Chaldeans lying to the north of Judea, and pouring forth its multitudes like a thick vapor, to overspread the land. Either of these interpretations will suit the text.
Barnes's Jeremiah 1:13 Bible Commentary
The first vision was for the support of the prophet's own faith during his long struggle with his countrymen: the second explains to him the general nature of his mission. He was to be the bearer of tidings of a great national calamity about to break forth item the north. He sees a caldron. It was a vessel of metal Ezekiel 24:11, large enough to prepare the meal of a numerous community 2 Kings 4:38, and broad at the top, as it was also used for washing purposes Psalm 60:8. This caldron was boiling furiously.
The face ... - More correctly the margin, i. e toward the south. We must suppose this caldron set upon a pile of inflammable materials. As they consume it settles down unevenly, with the highest side toward the north, so that its face is turned the other way and looks southward. Should it still continue so to settle, the time must finally come when it will be overturned, and will pour the whole mass of its boiling contents upon the south.
Wesley's Jeremiah 1:13 Bible Commentary
1:13 Seething - Pot - I see a pot coming, meaning the Babylonian army, who would besiege Jerusalem as a fire plays round the pot, when it is to be made boil; and reduce the inhabitants to miserable extremities. Face - Or front of the pot, or furnace, the place where the fire was put in, or blowed up to make it boil. North - Indicating from whence their misery should come, namely, from Chaldea, which lay north from Jerusalem.